from Prologue: Black Flag
The wind blew cold and fierce across the towers of Caernarvon Keep, stinging the young watchman’s eyes as he stared into the endless blue of the Irish Sea and the sky above it. Aiden was his name, a squire, not complete in his training to earn his knighthood. He was a few months past seventeen and accustomed to the tediousness of keeping watch. The work was boring, but Aiden knew its importance. When he was ten, his older brothers had fought beside Kim Caernarvon during the Norse invasion. They escaped to Wrexham while Aiden and his parents remained trapped in Caernarvon under Norse occupation. He knew the watch was vital to the kingdom, and he approached his post with utmost solemnity.
It was mid-afternoon, and the sun hung low and bright, the elements conspiring to make the watch exhausting. As he scanned the horizon, Aiden noticed a dark smudge to the south. Since the aftermath of the war, incoming ships were constant in Caernarvon, and the watch alerted the officers whenever one approached. He opened a leather-bound collection of parchments and recorded the sighting, noting the time on the sundial. The conventional means of recording time by candle was impossible atop a windy watchtower. He kept the ship in his peripheral vision as he continued to scan the horizon.
A ship approaching from the south could be from anywhere—Gwynedd, Swansea, Macnylleth, Aberystwyth, or more distant ports—London, France, Italy, or the Northern Kingdoms. Aiden watched for the ship to raise its identification flags, which would be passed along to a runner—boys who would take the information to the watch captain. When the ship reached the harbor marker, a sailor hoisted the flags. The first was the for the Kingdom of Llanfyllin, horizontal stripes of violet, gray, and green; the second was the colors of Caernarvon, scarlet, black, and gold. Aiden recorded both flags as he had done dozens of times. He looked again as a third banner was hoisted, and he tasted metal as his heart started to pound. This flag bore four colors in each corner, blue, red, green, and brown, for the elements of air, fire, water, and earth—the banner of the Magician’s Guild.
Kim Caernarvon had gathered all the knights and squires of the watch months ago to show them what the Magician’s banner looked like. “If you see this flag hoisted as a ship approaches, your orders are to contact me at once. If you are on the watch, report it at once to the captain, who will find me and tell me. I cannot reveal the reasons behind it, but it is of vital importance to the kingdom that I know when this ship arrives. I can't tell you when this might be, because I don’t know myself, but when it does return, you all will know what to do.”
Aiden tugged a rope hanging through a hole in the tower’s floor. A bell rang out, muffled by the stone, wood, and wind, but it didn’t take long for the runner to pop through the trap door. It was Davy, thirteen years old and small for his age but fast as a rabbit. He wasn’t breathing hard despite running up several flights of stairs to answer the bell. Aiden liked him, and he knew he could trust the boy to cover his station while he did his duty.
“Davy,” Aiden said, “take a look at the ship arriving.”
Davy looked and gasped. “Black sail?”
“Black sail,” Aiden answered, giving the code that was meant to set Kim Caernarvon’s plans in motion. “Cover my post and record anything else you see. I have to get to the captain.”
“You lucky goat,” Davy said. “The kim’s likely to knight you for this.”
“Or hang me,” Aiden replied. “We don’t know if that flag means good news or bad. Look sharp, now. I’ll be back when I can.”
He climbed down the ladder and felt his chest tighten as his steps accelerated. The captain’s post was on the top floor of the main edifice of the castle, so after he descended the tower, he didn’t have far to run, and run he did, as if he were back in that position as a boy again. Caernarvon Keep was the headquarters of the kingdom’s military and busy with people moving throughout the castle, but Aiden ran past them as if they were standing still. Unlike Davy, he was quite out of breath when he opened the door to the captain’s station. Maldwynn was the officer on duty, an old knight with a dour face and no left hand, lost to a Norseman’s axe seven years before.
“Why are you here, Aiden, and not at your post?” Maldwynn said, barely casting his eyes up at the squire. “Your watch is until sundown.”
“I beg your pardon, Captain Maldwynn,” Aiden replied. He caught his breath and said, “Black sail.”
“Say that again.”
“Black sail, Captain.”
“Are you certain?”
“Aye, as certain as my own name,” Aiden said. “I watched them raise the flag. It’s the four elements.”
“Good lad,” Maldwynn said. “Return to your post. I assure you that I will inform Kim Caernarvon to credit you with the sighting.”
“Thank you, sir,” Aiden said, and before he could turn to leave, Maldwynn was on his feet and out the door, running through the castle as Aiden had done. The squire was amazed the old man could still move that fast.
Maldwynn had more ground to cover than did Aiden or Davy. On most days, the kim would be in the Great Hall, but the room was empty. He then looked in the Map Room, where military strategies were discussed, and next he checked with the Knights of the Crimson, the kim’s personal guards. The knight on duty directed him to the family quarters on the top floor of the castle, not far from where he started.
He had the presence of mind to knock first instead of bursting into the kim’s private residence. One of the kira’s handmaidens opened the door, and Maldwynn informed her that he had urgent business with Kim Caernarvon. She bowed and asked him to wait while she informed him. A few moments later, he opened the door: Kane Ellesmere, Kim Caernarvon, hero of the Norse War and Lord Commander of Llanfyllin’s military forces. He was not in uniform or royal dress but wore simple leather breeches and an untucked blouse; it was rare for all but a few close advisors to see the kim in his household clothing. From the sound of children laughing, Maldwynn had interrupted a family gathering.
“I beg your pardon for the interruption, Kim Caernarvon,” Maldwynn began.
“Not to worry, Tom,” Kane said. “What news?”
“Black sail, your highness,” Maldwynn said.
“Are you certain?”
“Aiden saw it,” he replied. “That boy could count the feathers on a hawk in flight. If he says he saw the guild’s flag, I’d stake a claim of a thousand quinns.”
“Very well,” Kane said. “Wait here; give me a moment to dress, and then you will accompany me to the harbor.”
“Of course, your highness.”
Kane returned quickly, his previous clothing now augmented with black boots and the crimson-and-gold coat of the kim, his usual attire for his position as the ruler of the kingdom’s second-largest province. They descended the castle through a back staircase used primarily for servants but also as a means for rapid deployment of forces, or in this case, to avoid attracting attention until Kane could make an accurate appraisal of the situation awaiting him at the harbor.
Horses were kept ready near the main gate of the keep, including Kane’s favorite black stallion whenever he was in residence. The men were no sooner outside the gate when they saw a rider approaching at top speed from the harbor. As he drew near, they saw that he wore the uniform of Caernarvon’s navy. He drew his horse to a rapid halt and saluted Kane.
“Your highness,” the sailor said. “I beg you to come to the harbor, and make haste, my lord, as our passenger, your learned advisor, lies in a dire state. I fear he shall not live much longer. Indeed, it is a miracle he survived our voyage at all.”
Kane nodded and snapped the reins of his horse, riding to the harbor as fast as the stallion could run, with Maldwynn and the sailor racing after him. Once they reached the harbor, a contingent of sailors, all with urgent, fretful faces directed them up the gangplank to the ship’s deck. Once on board, the ship’s captain pointed to a small cabin near the stern. Kane entered alone.
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